Just another WordPress.com weblog

babar mosque

The biggest problem for India’s national unity and integrity in the twentieth century has no doubt been what Indians call ‘Communalism’, the political conflict between the religions, especially between Hindus and Muslims. The most conspicuous communal bone of contention in India in the years 1986-1990 has certainly been the Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid issue. The material object of the controversy is quite small: an unimpressive mosque-structure on a hilltop in Ayodhya, the town traditionally considered as the birth place of the protohistorical hero Ram. This architecturally rather uninteresting building is known as the Babri Majid, Babar’s mosque. As such, it has been named after Babar, the first Moghul emperor, implying it was built on his orders, or in honor, in 1528.

Many Hindus believe that Ram was born on the very spot where Babar’s mosque is standing. Therefore they call it Ram Janamabhoomi, Ram’s birth-ground. They also believe that Babar’s men built the mosque after demolishing a temple which was standing on the same spot in commemoration of Ram. Some Hindu organizations want to rebuild this temple, which implies removing the present structure. The Hindus have already taken control of the building in 1949, when the mosque was not in regular use any more. They installed idols and converted the mosque into a temple.

By orders of the government, however, the worshippers could only after puja from outside. In 1986, a judge ruled that the temple be opened for unrestrained Hindu worship. Subsequently, the Vishwa Hindu Parihad started a nationwide campaign for the replacement of the existing mosque-turned temple with a proper temple structure.